Golf club



GOLF CLUB Filed 001;. 30. 1922 citizen of the United states,

\proved golf club and more l l w 'corr Caen.

application mea october 3e, ieee.y serial no. 597,733.

To all whom zt muy concern:

Be it known that I .HARRY E. Dom, a residin at St. Louis, in the city of St. Louis and tate ott Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in a Golf `Club, of which the Following is a specification.

Thisfinvention relates toa new and imarticularly to a putter or club used for rolling the ball upon the putting green toward and into the cup or hole.

In making the putting stroke, it is` desir-v able to cause theball to hug the ground and highly important to retain the exact direction of movement. It is also important that the ball drop into the cup 'and not pass over it when properlymolled toward the cu It has been foundthat when the all is i given a rotation in the line of flight, that iS an overspin or follow a'correspondin ro- .tationis called when given to the bi1 iard ball, this overspin will tend to cause a' ball to hug the ground and not lose its direction by bouncinol and will also aid in causing it to drop as 1t passes over the lip" of the cup.

This overspin may be'imparted to the ball by causing the striking surface of the club to enga e the ball at a point above its center when hittingthe ball in j making the stroke.

I- am aware that certain utters have heretofore been desi v 1 w inten edito accomplish this purpose. ere'such a putter is pro- "vided with a line contact adapted to eng the ball, lthe point of engagement with t e ball will vary with the istance whichv the l f sole` of.' the club is held above the ground in making-the stroke. This distance will vary somewhat .since it is impossible to make the stroke with absolute uniformity and consequently the amount of overspn given willcorrespondingly vary. f

In making a long put, where the ball is located upon an extreme corner of the green,

itmay be desirable to strike the ball so as to.minimize the overspin or avoid it altogether.'vThi s is for the reason that if the -ball be struck a hard, sharp blow above, its

eenter,.th'e blow will tend Vto forceit against i `thegriti'indand'causeit to bounce, thus los- .eledtobeuncertain It is an object of the present invention vprovide a putter with a face so formed as g direction and causing the dist-ance travto engage a golf ball at a substantially uni- .i e, aga'. nonna, Orsa. Louisfmssoum.

throughout a wide variation in the4 height above the ground which the club head may be held in making the stroke.

It is a further object to provide a c lub' Ahead having a face adapted to normally en- 'gagevthe ball above its center but adapted ratively small langular disshaft to` .engage `the' upon a com placement o the club ball -a-t or about its center.

Itis 'a further object to provide a club havinga concave face, the face being preferably formed upon a c lindric curve, the radius of curvature ofw ch materially exceeds that of the golf ball and theradius of curvature of which liesapproximately in the plane of the sole of the club.

@ther and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

I have illustrated certain preferred bodiments ofmy invention in the aecompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1. is a plan view of one form of m improved putter'h'ead;

Figure 2 is a face viewof Figure 1;

:Figure 3 is a view* of Figure l as seen from the right;

Figure 4 is a view similarto Figure l but showing a modified form of the device;

Figure 5 is a face view of the form shown in Figure 4; and l Figure 6 is a view of the form of Figure Llas seen from the right.V

The form of club head shown in Figures l to 3 comprises the hosel 8 vand the head proper 9. The head is'provided with the concave face best shown in Figre. The

flange 11 is located upon the rear face of i of the headupon both sidesof the axis of the'club. The concave face of the club as shown is formed with a usual type of mark-A ings or grooves-13. A olf ball of the regulation size has been s own at 14 to -make clear its relation to the club.

The concave face as shown in the gures isfformed by a portion of the cylindric surface, the radius of curvature of which is materially` greater Pthan the' radius of the golf ball. The axis of curvature is located substantially in the plane of the sole of the v clubso that the lowermost portion of the club 'face is approximately tangent to the vertical plane. vThe curve is such that the form point' above the center thereof facefengages the ball at a point above the llt@ ' the ball.

Upon ythe rear face of the club a similar surface 24 is formed'. The club is thus symmetrical about the vertical plane passing through the axis of the shaft. It may be used with equal facilitywith right-handed or left-handed players.

The concave striking faces formed in the clubs are such thatwhen it is desired to roll theball a relatively great distance by means of a comparatively hard blow, the ball may be struck approximately upon a point at the middle of its vertical height. This may be accomplished 'by causin the club head to engagel the ball at a time when the club shaft is tilted slightl to the rear or away from the ball. In t is manner, long running up or approach uts may be made with- 'outa bouncing the bal by striking it down against the turf. The concave face permits this to be done by much smaller tilting of the club shaft than would be required were the str'king face ofthe club formed on a i plane intersecting the upper and lower edges of the striking surface. Furthermore the curved face requires less metal and aiizords5 a lighter club head than would bepossible with a plain face inclined as stated.

While I have shown -two preferred em- -bodiments, it is my intention to cover all modifications coming within the scope Aof the appended'claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club having a head provided with a concave cylndric striking face.

2. A golf club having a head provided with a concave cylindric striking face, the radius 0f curvature being materially greater than that of` a golf ball.

3. A golfclub having a head provided with a concave cylindric striking face, the radius of curvature being greater than twice that of a olf ball. p

4. A go f club having a head rovided with a concave cylindric striking ace, the axis of curvature bein substantially parallelto the sole of the c ub. e

5. A golf club having a head rovided with a concave cylindric striking ace, the axis of curvature being substantially parallel to the sole of the club, and being located approximately in the plane .of the sole.

6. A golf club having a head provided with `a concave cylndric striking face, the axis of curvature being substantially parallel to the sole of the club, and being located.

approximately in the plane of -the sole, whereby the upper portion of the club face overhangs forwardly, the head being further provided with a flange extending from the rear face, the lower face of the flange being a portion of the sole, the weight of the flange Aserving to balance the club about a vertical plane containing the axis of the club shaft. Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 26th day of October, 1922.

HARRY E. DOERR. 

